Alfred Pratt, of Syracuse, an early settler in Kansas, one of the organizers of Hamilton county and a former state representative from that county, has not only borne an active part in the development of this great commonwealth, but was also one of the brave defenders of our Union and by his useful life and patriotic services well deserves recognition in a work of this kind.

Alfred Pratt was born Jan. 30, 1839, near Georgetown, Scott county, Kentucky. His father, James M. Pratt, also was a native of the same county and state, where he was born Aug. 14, 1808. His mother, Susan W. Adams, was born in England and immigrated to the United States while very young, her parents settling first in Virginia, where she was educated in the common schools, but later removing to Kentucky while she was still in her girlhood. James M. Pratt and Susan W. Adams were married in Kentucky in 1831 and of the three children born to them Alfred was the youngest. He was educated at Georgetown College, where he was graduated in 1858. For the following three years he engaged in teaching and then went to Indiana and enlisted in the Union army as a private in Company B, Seventy-eighth Indiana volunteer infantry.

On Feb. 25, 1864, Mr. Pratt wedded Miss Mary L. McMurry, of Putnam county, Indiana. Choosing farming and stock raising for his occupation he has made a life business of it. In 1876 he removed to Shawnee county, where he resided until 1885, when he took up his residence in what is now Hamilton county. It was then unorganized and shortly after Mr. Pratt's removal there Governor Martin appointed him enumerator of the county preparatory to its organization, which was accomplished on Jan. 30, 1886, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the state's admission to the Union. Mr. Pratt represented Hamilton county in the state legislature from 1891 to 1897, in which body his service was both of credit to himself and of great usefulness to his constituency. Mrs. Pratt was born in Putnam county, Indiana, Dec. 26, 1843, a daughter of James McMurry and Lavonia Darnall, who were both natives of Kentucky and who were married in 1842. To Mr. and Mrs. Pratt were born five children—four sons and one daughter—four of whom are still living, the third child having died in infancy. The eldest son, C. D. Pratt, is a prominent business man in Dallas, Tex. Malvina E., the second in order of birth, was married in September, 1888, to E. B. Welch, who has been prominent in the business circles of El Paso, Tex., for the past twelve years. T. H. Pratt, the third son, is a fruit grower in Los Angeles county, California, and also conducts a feed and fuel business in Pasadena. The youngest son, J. B. Pratt, is a resident of Hamilton county, Kansas, and at the present time (1911) is treasurer of the county. Mary L. Pratt, after a useful and well spent life, died at the home of her daughter in El Paso, Tex., on Sept. 29, 1902, and was interred by the side of her father and mother in Crown Hill cemetery, Indianapolis, Ind.